Andy Murray considers unusual return at first grass ATP Challenger since 2004
Andy Murray could play the Surbiton Trophy ATP Challenger event to begin his grass court season the former world number one revealed after his exit from the Miami Masters.
After the Brit lost to world number two Daniil Medvedev he will now embark on an extended training block led by newly reinstated coach Ivan Lendl.
While that training will see Murray miss the entire clay season, including Roland Garros, the 34-year-old says he may play Surbiton, which begins 30th May, to get his grass play going on the second-tier of the men’s tour, according to The Times.
The world number 85 has played the Challenger event once before, in 2004, when he was just 17 years old and ranked 544th in the world.
Murray has admitted that he feels the training period with Lendl is necessary, with one reason being he feels he has not practised optimally in the past 18 months.
“Hopefully I can get my game into a place where it’s more competitive against the top players again.”
Should Murray play Surbiton it would be his 18th career ATP Challenger event appearance and his fourth since 2019, the Brit using the men’s second tier to build match time and improve his ranking.
Surbiton opens the UK grass court swing each year, with past champions including former world number seven Mardy Fish (2006) and 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2007).
Former world number ones and multiple Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer also recorded their first professional grass court wins at Surbiton in 1998 and 1999 respectively.
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